What Do You Fear Most?
by OmniPharoah
Summary: Gotham City is gripped in fear when the Joker returns from the dead. But when the Batman, Terry McGinnis, finds a relic from Bruce's past, will he be able to save Gotham and find himself in the process? Going to "M" for language.
1. Chapter 1

**A/N: Well, here is story number 4, called "What Do You Fear Most?"**

**This story was inspired by the scene in Green Lantern where a Sinestro Corps ring had bonded with Bruce Wayne for all of a page and a half. My thoughts were, "What if Bruce did not fight the ring, but instead bonded with it and ended up as a major player in the Sinestro Corps?" This story is what happens after, though there may be either a spin-off story or several flashback chapters that shows what Bruce did while in the Sinestro Corps.**

**Once again, I own no DC characters. I wish I did, then we wouldn't be having this reboot of 52 different books.**

**Remember, I like reviews.**

WDYFM1

Prologue: Beware Your Fears

Terry McGinnis was not having a good evening. It started out as mediocre, when the five foot ten-inch black haired teenager had to postpone his date with an already irritated girlfriend, but at least his job with Bruce Wayne had finally gotten him into a party with Gotham's socialites, rather than Gotham's criminals.

But of course, things had to take a turn for the worst. As the old man named Bruce Wayne, had limped to the podium, and began to speak, there came chilling laughter from all the speakers. As people began to panic, Terry ran to his employer's side.

"Go to work," was all that the gray haired and hunched man had said to him. Terry quickly ran to find somewhere private so that he could suit up in the highly advanced batsuit. Upon his return, he found that the party had been overrun by a small cell of the Jokerz, a large gang that dressed up as clowns and used weapons designed to look like comedic props. One such instance, Terry recalled, was one cell had a box full of chattering joke teeth that were razor sharp and could eat through most anything. Apparently, the gang was created in memoriam of a historic villain, from Bruce's past. That villain was the Joker, also known as the Clown Prince of Crime, and oddly, Bruce almost never spoke of him.

As Terry watched the twins, Dee-Dee and Dee-Dee knock Bruce to the ground, a purple mist rose from the ground, as did the Joker himself, despite the fact that the man was supposed to be dead. He could still remember the man's words in that chillingly high voice, tainted with sadistic glee.

_"Hello Gotham! Joker's back in town!"_

From that point, the entire evening had become a qualified disaster, what with the Joker and his Jokerz cell getting away by destroying the balcony right out from under the feet of civilians, and escaping while Terry had jumped after the falling people to save them.

But now, driving Bruce home after the incident, Terry could tell that the old man was deep in thought. He hadn't said a word since they left the event. Deciding to try to get Bruce to open up, Terry attempted to engage him in conversation.

"So… the Joker huh?" started Terry. "Pretty spry for a guy who's supposed to be, what? 80? Any theories on that? Frozen in cryostasis? A clone? A robot?"

"Shut up and drive," replied Bruce, his tone colder than usual.

"Yes sir," sighed Terry as the two approached stately Wayne Manor.

WDYFM 1

After they had reached the manor, Terry had then made some dinner for Bruce, and while Bruce was eating, Terry went down into the Batcave for some research.

Sitting at the massive monitor in the Batcave, Terry managed to pull up the files on the Joker. Deciding to see if there was any chance at all of the Joker he saw earlier being a copycat, Terry pulled up the recording of the nights event and put it side by side with a previous recording of one of the Joker's televised threats.

**"… A countdown of victims that will end at midnight, unless our dear Dark Knight stops me first! Aahahahaha!"** came from the first recording.

**"Hello Gotham! Joker's back in town! Aaaahahahahaha!"** was the second one. And to Terry's surprise, three words popped up on the screen.

"Voice match identical?" read Terry. "What the hell does that mean?"

"It means that the Joker has come back from the dead," said Bruce, as he descended the stairs with his dog, Ace.

"You know, it's funny," said Terry as he got up from the chair to let Bruce sit down. "I know about all your other major enemies, but you never mentioned him… He was the biggest, wasn't he?"

"It wasn't a popularity contest," replied Bruce, as he leaned onto the console, clasping his hands together. "He was a psychopath… A monster."

"So how is it possible that he could still be around after all this time?"

"Normally, I would say that it's not possible. After all… he died years ago. That said though, many of my old allies and enemies had died and then come back in some way. While I wasn't around for it at the time, the Blackest Night, and the Brightest Day proved that Death is something that isn't always permanent. Superman found that out, as did Wonder Woman, the Martian Manhunter, the Flash and Green Lantern," answered Bruce.

"So it is possible he came back from the dead?" asked an astonished Terry. "And how did he die in the first place?"

Bruce's only response was to stand up and walk away.

"My God… You did it, didn't you?"

"Terry, I-"

"That's it, isn't it? He was going to do something so terrible, you had no other choice," said Terry. Inwardly, Terry was shaken. It was well known throughout the world that the Batman never killed.

After a few minutes of silence, Bruce spoke again. "I want you to give back the Batman suit."

"What? Why?" asked Terry.

"There is no reason for you to continue being Batman. You brought your fathers killer pay for his murder, the put your own needs aside to help the city when it most needed a hero. You've honored the reputation of Batman many times over, and for that, I thank you."

"Then why?"

"I had no right to force this life on you, or anyone else…"

"Hey, I was the one who broke in and swiped the suit, remember? Yes, there was my dad's murder, but we come from two different worlds, Mr. Wayne. I wasn't like you, or the kids you took in. I was a pretty bad kid once… Ran with the rough crowds and broke a lot of laws to say nothin' to my folks hearts. The kind of punk you wouldn't have wasted a second punch on," At this point, Terry locked eyes with Bruce, Terry's young blue eyes filled with regret and hurt.

And though it hurt Bruce to act this way, Terry could not be put in harm's way. So he continued on in a terribly cold voice. "Your point?"

"I'm trying to make amends! The state says that my three months in juvie wiped me clean, but my soul says differently. Every time I put on that suit, it's my chance to help people who are in trouble. I guess on a personal level, it's a chance to look like a worthwhile human being again. In my eyes if no one else's… It's what I want, Bruce."

Steeling himself for the eruption to come, Bruce turned his back on Terry. "Stupid kid… You don't know what you want. None of you ever did," whispered Bruce to himself as he walked away. But Terry heard every word.

In his anger, Terry threw down his pack with the Bat suit inside and began to stomp away. As Terry made it to the first of the steps, Bruce was overcome by a coughing fit. Turning to see Bruce fall over in agony, Terry's conscious got the best of him. Sighing, Terry walked back over to Bruce and placed the old man's arm over his shoulder. Lifting Bruce to his feet, Terry supported them as they went up the stairs to one of the many sitting rooms. With each step, Bruce's breathing came harder and more ragged. Eventually, the two of them managed to walk through the grandfather clock that hid the entrance to the Batcave.

Escorting Bruce to one of the main sitting rooms, Terry gently helped the old man into a large and comfy chair. It was then that Terry got a good look at Bruce. From the few minutes that Terry had unofficially quit, and coming to rest in the chair, Bruce's forehead was beaded with sweat, and his complexion even paler than normal. His skin also seemed to sag. Bruce looked like he had aged another 10 years in 10 minutes!

"Hang on Bruce, I'm going to go get your meds," said Terry, almost panicking. Bruce could only nod as he tried to catch his breath.

Terry ran to the kitchen, over to Bruce's medicine cabinet. Bruce, after fighting for so many years, and having endured fights with many people who were much stronger than him and had many odd powers, as well as always carrying around a radioactive shard of kryptonite for years, had really taken its toll on his body. Not to mention having a weak heart! Bruce had special medicine that was created by the League, and was supplied to him periodically from said League.

Terry dug around, searching for the special green plastic bottle that the desired medicine came from. After a moment or so, Terry found the bottle, but huffed in frustration as he saw that the bottle was empty.

"McGinnis, you idiot… forgot to refill the prescription… stupid…"

Berating himself, Terry ran up the stairs to Bruce's room to check the medicine cabinet behind his bathroom mirror. As Terry entered the master bedroom, he was once again amazed at how big it was. Terry had been in here a few times when Bruce had collapsed before, but only to make sure he was tucked into bed and comfortable before one of the staff doctors would work on him.

The bathroom, which Terry had never been in, was incredibly spacious. As Terry made to turn on the light, nothing happened, though a loud POP was heard from downstairs.

_Great, a blown fuse._

Pulling out his motorcycle keys from his pants pocket, Terry quickly located the tiny flashlight attached to the key ring. Using the small but bright light provided by the LED, Terry managed to open the medicine cabinet and began his search for Bruce's backup medicine. After removing several bottles in order to see better, Terry finally found the correct bottle, luckily, it was nearly full.

Terry held onto the bottle as he began putting bottles back. Finishing his task, Terry was about to close up the cabinet when he saw a sparkle from inside the cabinet. Pausing, Terry opened it back up and shined his flashlight in once again, making sure to go over every little bit of the interior.

_Huh… thought I saw something, but I guess no- wait, that's it!_

Terry focused on the shining object as he carefully moved more bottles around to see what it was. Hidden way back in the corner, and covered under what appeared to be thirty years worth of dust, was a little golden ring. Turning on the faucet, Terry washed the ring off to get a better look at it. After washing it, Terry moved to grab a towel so he could dry it, but at that moment, Bruce had another coughing fit, one that Terry could hear all the way from downstairs. Forgetting his intrigue with the ring, Terry subconsciously slipped the ring into his jacket pocket, and made his way downstairs with the medicine.

WDYFM 1

The next morning, Max McGinnis walked into a most unusual sight as he went to get his breakfast. Sitting there at the table in his moms kitchen in a blue bathrobe and eating a bowl of cereal was his older brother. Terry glanced at him, gave a cheery "Morning!" and went back to his cereal, as if it was normal that Max and his mother even SEE Terry anymore. Max stared in shock for a few more moments…

"MOM! There's a stranger in our kitchen! And he's eating our cereal!" yelled Max.

"Ha ha," retorted Terry, mirthlessly.

"That's your brother," chuckled Mary McGinnis, making her own way into the kitchen.

"Great. Just when I was getting used to being an only child", muttered Max, sitting down across from Terry, huffing and crossing his arms over his chest.

Terry's only response to flick a piece of cereal at his baby brother, which of course earned another:

"MOOOMMM!"

"Hush Max," said Mary as she laid his breakfast before him. "Though he does have a point Terry, it's rare that we ever see you up before noon since you got your job with Mr. Wayne."

"I'm not working for Mr. Wayne anymore mom," cringed Terry, deciding not to go into detail.

Sensing that Terry didn't really want to talk about it, Mary started leading the conversation a bit more. "Well, it will be nice having you home for a change. By the way Terry, does this mean that we can start seeing you at dinner again?"

"Well, not tonight, I need to make it up to a pretty upset girlfriend," replied Terry, scratching the back of his head as he pondered what he could do to make it up to Dana.

WDYFM 1

Lights flashed and music blared at one of the local dance clubs, where older teenagers and college kids would go to hang out and dance. There was always lots of people on all of the floors and in the booths of the multi-floor building.

Descending the stairs from the entrance floor to the basement floor was a young black haired woman and her blonde haired best friends.

"Every once in a while, we have to do it Dane," said Chelsea, a blonde-haired bombshell in a slinky black dress. "Ditch the guys and have a night out to ourselves."

"It may be a change for you, Chels," replied Dana Tan, the black-haired beauty in a skimpy light blue dress. "But I don't see enough of Terry to know the difference."

Sighing, Chelsea placed her arms on Dana's shoulder and looked square into her eyes.

"Dana… Terry's sweet and all, but who says you can't make friends with someone new?" asked Chelsea, tilting her head and gesturing up to a group of whistling guys one floor up. Dana looked towards where Chelsea had indicated when a young an stepped into her vision.

"Not a chance," said Terry, back in his regular clothes, but looking more well rested and relaxed than he had in quite a while.

"Terry !" exclaimed Dana, completely taken by surprise by the unexpected arrival of her boyfriend.

Taking her hand, Terry escorted her down the steps, leading to the dance floor. Dana took this chance to express her displeasure with him.

"I thought you would be working, as usual," said Dana in a frosty tone.

"Uh uh. The bad news is, that for the time being, I'm not gonna have much money coming in. The good news, you have me all to yourself now," replied Terry, giving her a charming smile. Seeing that smile, all of Dana's annoyance instantly evaporated.

"I can live with that," said Dana in a somewhat husky voice as she wrapped her arms around his shoulders and he laid his hands on her waist. The two danced together for who knows how long, just staring into each other's eyes.

Eventually though, two identical girls with knee length hair, and bangs covering the right side of their faces came walking up to the couple.

"Cutting in!" said the one closest to Dana as the two women pulled Terry away from Dana, one wrapping her arms under his from behind, and the other putting her hands on his waist and shoulder from the front. The two spun Terry around, distracting him, while one of them knocked Dana several feet away by slamming her hips into Dana's.

"Hey!" cried Dana. As Dana began to march toward the two tramps who were trying to steal here man, another young man wearing a skull shirt and brown burlap pants, as well as a witch's hat placed one arm around her waist and his other hand over her mouth. As Dana tried to scream, she could see the man's arms were covered in tattoos that looked like stitching. He quickly pulled her off the dance floor without her being able to alert Terry.

Terry, finally having regained his bearings, pushed himself away from the identical twins and ran to look for Dana. While he had his back turned, he felt a sharp kick to his back, and was knocked into several people, who gave an undignified "Hey, watch it!"

Turning back to the girls, they both smiled coyly at him, and the one on his left pointed to the other and playfully said "It was her!"

Before he knew it, the two women rushed him, flanking him from both sides as they viciously kicked at him, but with his experience as the Batman, he was able to block them with his arms, until one of them dropped to the ground for a leg sweep. As he fell to the ground, people started forming a circle around the two-on-one fight. Terry quickly got back to his feet, and not a moment too soon as the other woman's feet came smashing down where his face was just a second before.

The two women went back to kicking at him, but Terry caught one of the women's legs, and he spun with her in his grip and threw her into the other one. But as soon as they were down, they got back up. Terry found himself having to block an axe kick from one, and shoving her away. The other took that chance to kick him in the back again.

Terry found himself on the ground again and looking up as a feral Woof from the Jokerz leapt at him. Operating on pure instinct, Terry threw his legs up, catching Woof at the stomach, and used Woofs momentum to send him flying into a vending machine.

"Terry!" came a scared cry from Dana as he looked up to the entrance floor and saw Goon holding her arm and hair as she slapped at him and tried to get away.

"Dana!" yelled Terry, jumping to his feet and making his way to the stairs. In his path though were the two identical women, who Terry could only assume were the Dede's. As they both went for another kick, Terry flipped over them, and placed his hands on their heads, and knocked them into each other before continuing on his path. Terry could only watch in horror as Goon pushed Dana off of the next floor up and she fell into several large lights, passing out before Terry caught her in mid-air. Sadly, the only place for them to land was an occupied table, though the occupants were quick to move. Terry twisted in mid-air so that he would cushion Dana's fall. As they landed, Terry felt the table shatter underneath their combined weight and momentum.

Rolling to a stop, Terry took a moment to look at the unconscious Dana, but it was too dark to tell what kind of injuries she had. People around them though finally realized something was wrong and began to scream and make for the exits.

**"**_**Fear"**_ came a feeble voice, though Terry did not have time to figure out who said it. Laser shots hurtled toward him and Dana as he heard a male voice yell "Slag 'em!"

Terry dived behind a booth, still holding the unconscious Dana as the Dede's and Fatso unloaded on their position with laser guns. Civilians screamed in terror as they heard the shots and saw the beams. They all began to run in earnest now.

_**"Collecting Fear energy. Power levels rising,"**_ came the same unknown voice from before, only this time it sounded much stronger.

Terry took the opportunity to sprint from his hiding spot, still holding Dana. As he ran, he saw the beams narrowly missing him. Then he saw an obstacle that would make them a harder target, if only he could make it.

Dodging the beams, Terry leapt into the air to hurdle over the furniture, only to be clipped in the right leg by a lucky shot. As he and Dana went down, Terry noticed that he no longer had any feeling in his right leg, and so used his left leg to try and push them away from the enemy. People were trying hard to evacuate, and while they were getting to safety, it drastically improved the chances of the Jokerz finally doing them in.

_**"Collecting Fear energy. Power levels 12%. Running diagnostics. Last use on 5/20/2022, Earth time. All systems operational. Scanning for Fear."**_

Terry was finally starting to regain the feeling in his right leg when he heard the cocking of several guns and the insane animal laughter coming from the Dede's, Fatso and Woof. Terry did notice that all four of them did stay back about twenty feet, as if scared of getting any closer. As the Jokerz lowered their guns right at Terry, Fatso spoke.

"Any last words, dreg?"

_**"Sentient located,"**_cam the mysterious voice once again. And Terry felt something move in his pocket, and a small object wrapped in yellow light shot out and flew erratically around Terry and Dana. All conscious people present looked on in wonder as the yellow object stopped in mid-air, showing itself to be a little yellow ring. The same one that Terry had found in Bruce's medicine cabinet, but forgot to put back.

Somehow, Terry knew things would be alright now, and he smirked at Fatso and glared at the Jokerz with cold blue eyes for threatening him, and his girlfriend. The Jokerz shivered as Terry seemed to have a glint of yellow in his eyes. But surely that just must have been the reflection from the glowing ring, right?

"Yeah, I actually do have something to say," replied Terry.

The yellow ring then swooped around, and they heard it say: _**"Terrance McGinnis of Earth. You possess the ability to instill great Fear."**_

The ring then placed itself onto the middle finger on Terry's right hand, and yellow light blasted forth and lifted Terry off the ground. The light was so bright, the Jokerz had to shield their eyes. When they could look again, they saw the Batman floating a few inches off the floor, except the costume was different now. The previously red bat insignia on the suit had grown to the point where it covered most of his torso, with the outer most part of the wings covering his shoulders, about three inches from the base of his neck. The first fold of the wings were now placed right below his pecs and the bottom point of the insignia now ended at about where the naval would be. The head of the bat was now slightly higher, now only four inches down from his neck. In the center of the bat insignia was a new symbol. It was black, and was a circle with what appeared to be two handles jutting out and wrapping up the sides of the circle before turning sharply outward and extending all the way to the very tip of the wing on bat symbol. On top of the circle were also two small lines that intersected perpendicularly with another curving line, curving exactly as much as the circle. The most dramatic differences were that the bat insignia was now a bright yellow, and the previously white eyes which constantly analyzed everything emotionlessly were now changed to a terrifying yellow hue. Terry, under the generated bat-suit placed himself in front of Dana, and gave a chillingly satisfied smirk to the Jokerz when the same voice rang out.

_**"Welcome to the Yellow Lantern Corps."**_

"Well Fatso, you asked for my last words," asked Terry as the golden aura surrounded him, and the Jokerz looked about ready to wet themselves, especially seeing the new and improved Batman raise his right hand toward them were the yellow ring pulsed with power.

"What do you fear most?"


	2. Chapter 2

**Hey guys, it's been a long time. I have no excuse for how long this took to come out. I find that I get an idea in my head, and usually it's only certain scenes that I find that I can write really fast, and the rest of the time, I have some writers block. I also got caught up in a little game called "Star Wars: The Old Republic", and as with any MMO, it's kind of a soul-stealer. But anyway, thanks for your patience. Here is chapter 2 of "What Do You Fear Most?"**

**-=WDYFM2=-**

"What do you fear most, Fatso?" asked the menacing voice of the Batman, now with a black and yellow color scheme. Yellow flames danced around his body.

Terry looked down at his body checking out his yellow-construct created uniform. He also noticed that his feet were a few inches of the ground. He felt the power rushing through him, empowering him more than he could ever imagine.

"Shit! Shoot him, you idiots!"

Terry looked up at Fatso's scream of panic. He relished their fear of him. The two twins, who he could only assume were the DeDe's, along with Ghoul and Woof had removed beam rifles from their packs. He was slightly confused about the absence of Bonk, but ultimately, he was unconcerned. He knew that with this yellow power, they had no chance of even touching him, let alone hurting him.

"Ugh…" he heard a pained moan behind him. He turned, and saw Dana lying on the ground, still unconscious. His eyes widened. He had forgotten all about the girlfriend he was trying to protect! He turned back to the attackers as he heard the sounds of the beam rifles firing. He rose his ring hand, and imagined his first construct. Yellow energy poured from the ring. It formed in front of him, in the shape of an oversized yellow shield, shaped like the bat insignia on the suit he had stolen from Bruce all those months ago. In the center was the same insignia that he now bore on the ring and his chest.

The weapon fire splashed against the shield, but the shield gave no indication of weakening. Soon enough, the blaster fire ceased, and the tell-tale clicks of the beam rifles told him all that Terry needed to know. Their energy cartridges were depleted.

Maintaining his concentration, but doing his best to look intimidating at the same time, Terry puffed out his chest, and lowered his arms, holding them at his side, floating just a tad higher. His golden aura shined a bit brighter. The shield construct did not dissolve, but instead, shattered before reforming into a cloud of yellow bats. The bats rushed at the Jokerz, several grabbing each of the weapons, and disassembling them right before the other teen's eyes. The rest of the bats swirled around the Jokerz, who had begun to panic, swinging their arms wildly as they tried to hit the bats. They did not prevail as several of the bats picked them up and lifted them into the air. The bats that destroyed the weapons left the debris and swarmed the Jokerz as well. Many of the bats turned into solid back walls behind each Joker, and a few more bats landed on each of their ankles, wrists and necks, immediately morphing into straps, binding the Jokers to the yellow construct walls.

The Jokerz struggled, but Ghoul managed to calm enough to start yelling at Batman.

"Bats, you may have us this time, but we know who you are now! There's no way we won't be able to get you, McGinnis! Your friends and family will all die because of you! We, the Jokerz, will make sure of i- oof!"

"Yeah, yeah, shut yer yap, ya knuckle-dragging Joker wannabe's!" called a red glowing man as he punched Ghoul in the back of the head, knocking him out. Everyone looked towards the newcomer who had just knocked Ghoul out with almost no effort.

He was a man, roughly as tall as Terry. He wore blood red armor, almost like a samurai's armor. But on each piece of armor, there were streaks of glowing green. The chest piece was black, except for wide grooves that glowed a bright red. The grooves came down over his shoulders, and at the base of where his pectoral muscles were, the lines started coming towards each other at a forty-five degree angle, before going straight back down to the end of the plate that covered his stomach. Connecting the two lines was a circle of red at his stomach. The same pattern was mirrored on his back. He also wore a blood red helmet. It was uninteresting except for the horns on each side that started below his chin, and ran up the sides of the helmet, as soon as it went an inch above the top of his head, they jutted out at forty-five degree angles and went straight back up another four inches. He also wore a Green Lantern ring on his right hand.

As the Jokerz gazed in horror at the red-armored man, Terry's ring decided to remind everyone that he was still there.

_**"Power levels at 2%. Immediate recharge required,"**_ said the ring.

The constructs holding the Jokerz dissipated, but Terry's yellow aura and uniform still held, despite flickering.

As the Jokerz started to fall back toward the ground, ready to make a break from the Lanterns, five indigo colored tentacles wrapped around their midsections.

"Don't worry Batman, we got these guys," said an African-American man. He wore Marine-style camouflage, except the green in it being replaced by an indigo color. He wore a head band of the same style. On his right hand, he too wore a Green Lantern ring, in addition to carrying a staff that had a stylized head, from which an indigo light shone. His left arm, which was gestured out to the Jokerz, had the five tentacles that seemed to just seemed to come out of his arm, as if they were a physical part of him.

Swinging the staff around, the indigo-camo clad man knocked the rest of the Jokerz in the back of the head, knocking them out as well, before setting them all down and letting the tentacles dissipate in wisps of indigo light.

The red-armored man grabbed the front of Terry's uniform, and got right in his face. Terry could finally see the man's face clearly, even with the helmet on. He could see a little bit of the man's red hair, and his glowing red eyes. His face was contorted with rage.

"And who the fuck do you think _you_ are?! Huh, punk-ass?! What the hell are you doing with _that_ ring?!" yelled the man as Terry's uniform faded. The other man put his hand on the armored man's shoulder.

"Guy, come on. Give the kid a chance to talk. After all, I don't think some regular punk could have just stolen _that _ring from Bruce. And besides, you saw the uniform it generated. Something else is going on," said the black man. He turned to his ring. "Ring, scan and identify."

_**"Sentient Terrance McGinnis of Earth, a.k.a. the Batman. Current Yellow Lantern of Earth. Age: Sixteen. Parentage: Father: Warren McGinnis, deceased. Mother: Mary McGinnis. Terrence McGinnis is currently a student at Gotham City High School. Please note: Terrance McGinnis of Earth is NOT part of Earth's Justice League."**_

Calming down a little bit, the man now known as Guy let go of Terry, setting him back on his ground. He then removed his helmet, and it too faded into wisps of red light. He gazed at Terry with his intense red gaze before sighing and crossing his arms.

"Awright chucklehead, I guess introductions are in order. As I'm sure you've gathered, we're both part of the Lantern Corps. Th' name's Guy Gardner, the Butcher. I lead the division of Red Lanterns," Guy then gestured over his shoulder, where the black man stood also gazing at Terry, with indigo colored eyes. "That dude back there is John Stewart. Or you can call him Proselyte, or Destroyer of Worlds, or jarhead…"

"Guy?"

"Yeah, John?"

"Shut up."

With that, Guy smirked and went to inspect the unconscious Jokerz. John walked forward and extended his hand to Terry.

"Don't mind him. Guy is kind of a jackass sometimes. Who's the girl behind you?" asked John.

"This is my girlfriend, Dana Tan. The Jokerz knocked her off an edge three floors up, I think she's probably hurt pretty badly. I need to get her to a hospital!"

**-=WDYFM2=-**

None of the Lanterns noticed that Chelsea had come back in after hearing the gun fire stop. She was cautiously looking around the corners, unaware that the Jokerz had been stopped. She was fearful that they had killed her best friend and her best friend's man. She peered around the corner, and let out a soft gasp when she saw two floating men and Terry together, around an unconscious Dana and the group of Jokerz. She watched, mesmerized as she heard the floating man with the Indigo aura tell Terry to relax, as he knelt down, placing his hand on Dana's head. Incredibly, three tentacles of indigo light slowly came out of his arm. One tentacle touched Dana's chest, right over her heart. Another touched Terry's chest, over his heart as well. The last one stood up, and the tentacle formed almost a shepherd's crook shape. At the end of it, indigo light began to swirl, forming a symbol of a circle, a "V" underneath it, and an upside down "V" over top of it. From the green ring on his right hand, green light flowed in little wisps towards it, and inside the circle of the Indigo symbol, formed a replica of the Green Lantern symbol.

Chelsea watched in fascination as Dana and Terry were wrapped in indigo light, and she could see wisps of pink light now moving towards the other two symbols. The light formed into yet another symbol, looking like a pink star missing a small circle in the center. Something else caught her attention though… besides the pink light, Terry had wisps of golden light gently circling around him, centered mainly around his right hand, where she could barely make out something on his hand.

As she watched, all of Dana's visible injuries healed up and she slightly stirred. The man with the indigo aura said something Chelsea couldn't hear, and Dana's body relaxed, in apparent sleep. The man lifted his physical hand from her head, and the tentacles of light faded into nothingness. The man turned to Terry.

"She's healed," she heard him say. "Dana Tan of Earth will be unconscious for probably the next twenty-four hours, but after that, she'll be right as rain."

Terry visibly relaxed, sighing in relief. Chelsea, despite trying to get Dana to give other guys a shot, knew that Terry loved her. In truth, she only wanted Dana to try other guys to make Terry jealous, so they would spend more time together. Her heart went out to him, seeing how shaken he was at her injuries. She watched as he picked her up bridal-style, with apparent ease.

The man in the indigo camouflage nodded at the Jokerz.

"What do you want to do about them?"

"I don't know what _to_ do about them right now. I can't keep them tied up down in the cave, and I can't just turn them over to the cops. As soon as they get out, they'll let all the Jokerz buddies know that I'm Batman," replied Terry, worriedly.

Chelsea let out a quiet gasp. Terry was the Batman?! Her eyes widened as she started connecting the dots. Everything made perfect sense now! Right around the time Terry's dad died was about the time that the Batman resurfaced, and also right about the time that he took that job for Mr. Wayne that kept out at nights and away from Dana… so… was Mr. Wayne in on it too? Chelsea's mind began whirling at all the revelations that just made themselves obvious to her.

The indigo man looked back at Terry.

"Don't worry. I'll take them with me. On Oa, we have some pretty good telepaths who can erase that info from their minds. I'll bring them back directly afterward. The thing is, even though they won't remember who you are, our telepaths have a strict code of ethics when it comes to things like this, so they won't mess with their minds anymore than that," he warned.

It was at that time that the man in the red armor decided to speak up.

"Stupid assholes are just lucky they try to pull this crap on a Red Lantern. None of the Red's would even give a second thought to killing all five of them. Come to think of it, neither would Agent Orange. Or most of the Yellows. Hell, even some Greenies might have taken offense to it."

The red armored man clapped Terry on the shoulder.

"Well bat-boy, let's pack it up. I think that we need to go see our good friend Brucie."

The indigo clad man went over to the five Jokerz. He tapped his staff on the ground, and a bubble of indigo energy surrounded the six of them. "I'll head in to see Bruce after we get these guys taken care of. It's been too long."

Chelsea was amazed as the six of them disappeared in a flash of indigo light. She decided that she would head outside and call the ambulance, just to make sure that Dana was alright.

**-=WDYFM2=-**

As Terry and Guy began to walk out of the building, Terry noticed that Guy's armor evaporated into basic civilian clothes of khakis, a red shirt and a black leather jacket. But the green ring did not fade. Instead, Guy hid it by placing that hand in his jacket pocket.

"Well kid, you got a ride?" asked Guy as they proceeded towards the exit, with Terry holding Dana.

"Yeah, a motorcycle. Won't fit two, unless you're a good looking girl," replied Terry, smirking at Guy.

"Bat-boy, I like you already," chuckled Guy.

As they left the building, Terry rushed over to Chelsea, who was on her phone. Guy had inconspicuously left his side and went to the parking lot. About that time, the ambulance pulled up, and several EMS workers jumped out, two of them pulling out a stretcher.

As Terry laid Dana on the stretcher, Chelsea came up next to him.

"What took you so long?" she asked quietly.

"Wanted to make sure it was safe to move her, but I think the fall looked a lot worse than it actually was," Terry lied. Chelsea looked at him intently for a long moment before asking the obvious question.

"What did those guys want with you Terry?"

"I don't know Chels. But I intend to find out," said Terry. He reached down and stroked Dana's face. "Will you stay with her Chels? I have some things I need to go look into."

"Of course," came her reply. As Terry started to walk towards the parking lot on the other side of the building, he felt a hand grab his arm. He looked and saw Chelsea. Strangely, she had tears in her eyes. "Promise me, and by proxy, Dana that you won't go off and do something stupid? We would be devastated if anything happened to you."

Terry felt his throat constrict. He felt that Chelsea probably knew more than she was letting on. At his curt nod, she let him go, and he jogged over to where Guy was waiting for him, next to his bike. Terry threw a leg over it, settling into the seat and pulling his helmet on. He threw a questioning gaze over at Guy.

"Don't worry, I'm not into cuddling up to guys on the back of their bikes," he smirked. Guy put his hand out, and red energy flowed out, and took the shape of a Harley-Davidson. The energy darkened in its shade until the construct looked like a real bike.

The two Lanterns rode down the road off to Wayne Manor. As they rode, Terry accessed the com in his helmet. He heard a small bit of interference, and looked at Guy, as a red single ear Bluetooth device materialized, for the logo, it held the same symbol that was on his armor, the Red Lantern symbol.

Terry had the com dial up Wayne Manor. The phone rang a few times before he heard a gruff voice.

_"Leave a message,"_ it said.

Terry glanced over at Guy, who he could see rolling his eyes at the voicemail system.

"Bruce, I was just attacked by the same group of Jokerz! Not as Batman, but as Terry. Something stinks here, and I think you know… wait a minute… Guy!"

"Yeah kid?"

"I think something's wrong, it's night time, where would Bruce go?"

After a long moment, Guy responded. "You're right Bat-boy. Hold onto your butt, we're turning on the afterburners!"

And with that, the construct that Guy was riding faded, and Guy was enveloped with green light from his ring. Guy extended his aura to envelop Terry and his bike as well, and the two of them flew above the trees towards stately Wayne Manor in a streak of green.

**-=WDYFM2=-**

The two landed in front of Wayne Manor, Guy taking care to set down Terry's bike without damaging it. The two rushed up the front steps, Guy using his green ring to form a hand construct ahead of them to open the doors.

Terry lead the way to the grandfather clock that hid the secret passage to the Bat Cave. Guy immediately generated a giant hammer of red light and knocked the clock out of the way. They rushed down the stairs, and what they saw, had them panicked. All the walls and several stairs and the floor had the word "HA!" written in different colored spray paints. They saw Bruce slumped over the keyboard on the Batcomputer. Terry and Guy pulled him off and lay him on his back on a clear table. They recoiled as they saw his face contorted in a toothy grin that was far too large to be natural.

"Ring, scan!" yelled Guy.

_**"Subject: Bruce Wayne of Earth. Formerly Batman. Vital signs are critical. Exposure to nerve gas classified as 'Joker Venom' confirmed. Cure needs to be administered immediately."**_

"Kid, where is the cure?" asked Guy.

"What cure?! I didn't know there was a cure! Hell, I don't even know what 'Joker Venom' is or does!" replied Terry, in a full-blown panic.

At that moment, Bruce took a large wheezing gasp of air. "Ha ha ha… under… ha ha… table… ha ha ha ha… there!"

Guy and Terry looked to the table Bruce was pointing to, and rushed to get it as the unnatural laughs that Bruce gave grew louder in volume, to the point where they could tell the laughing was physically hurting him. They quickly injected the serum into his arm, and within seconds, the laughter died down, and the smile on Bruce's face began to fall, and Bruce began to breathe easier.

The two took Bruce to his bed, and laid him down, and immediately returned to the Batcave in search of clues. Terry set about applying talcum powder to many surfaces and blowing it off, showing many sets of finger prints. Soon, it became very apparent that two sets were far more common than the last one. Using a piece of tape to life the finger print off the surface, Terry went to the Batcomputer to analyze it.

"Slow down there Bat-boy, I can do it faster. Ring, scan and identify owner of finger print," said Guy.

_**"Analysis complete. Fingerprint belongs to sentient being known as "The Joker". Real name unknown. No records found. Sentient is deceased."**_

"Aw hell," said Guy. "Ring, can you locate the Joker?"

_**"Unable to comply. Body has decomposed beyond traceable recognition."**_

"So," said Terry. "The Joker is in fact dead, and the body is no good, but he was able to somehow come down to the Batcave, poison Bruce and trash the place. This doesn't make any sense."

"Kid, I need you to tell me everything that's happened that involves the Joker. If he is somehow cheating death, I know one person who will be VERY pissed," said Guy seriously.

With that, Terry began telling Guy of everything that involved the Joker in the last couple of weeks. From the Jokerz suddenly becoming far more active, to their stealing things outside their usual objects of interest, to the Joker crashing the Gotham Gala. When he finished his tale, Guy stood up, and ran a hand through his hair as he began thinking.

"Come with me kid, we need to do a few things," said Guy after a few moments.

As they began walking back up the stairs, Guy looked at his green ring, and requested a connection to John. Within seconds, a green holographic visage of John Stewart appeared.

"How's it going with the prisoners Johnny boy?" asked Guy.

"Almost done. We'll be returning to Earth within twenty minutes."

"Good. I need you to bring Soranik with you. Bruce has been attacked and infected with Joker Venom. She'll be able to figure out how to synthesize the cure. If I know the Joker, he's got a large stash of venom ready to infect the city a moment's notice."

"Understood. I'll bring Lantern Natu with me."

And with that, the connection was closed.

When they reached the top of the stairs, Terry spoke to Guy.

"Who's Soranik, and why did you ask John to bring her?"

"Soranik Natu is the Corps best medic. She is the daughter of Sinestro, but don't hold that against her. She's a damn good surgeon, and one of the only regular Lanterns that can use two different colored rings. I asked John to bring her, because she can probably mass produce the cure in a short time. Enough questions for now Bat-boy, we need to find something. Ring, locate Yellow Battery of Earth."

_**"Yellow battery located. Retreiving."**_

A green beam shot out from Guys ring, and went up the master staircase into Bruce's room. It came back with a construct of a hook holding onto the handle of a Yellow Lantern. Like the yellow ring when Terry first found it, it seemed to be covered with decades of dust. With a thought, the green energy formed a fan and a brush, the brush sweeping the dust off and the fan blowing it away. Once it was cleaned off, Guy handed the battery to Terry.

"Charge up kid, the next person we need to talk to won't respect you unless you're a lantern."

After a brief demonstration, Terry's newly acquired yellow ring declared that its power levels were at one hundred percent. Guy led the way out to the back yard. With a burst of pure red flames, Guy donned his full armor again. Following suit, Terry concentrated on the yellow ring, and the ring wrapped him in yellow light, and when it faded, he was back in the uniform it had generated for him in his fight against the Jokerz.

Nodding to Terry, Guy then floated up into the air, before spewing a large amount of red liquid. As it impacted the ground, the liquid burst into flames. But it was in a pattern of an upside down triangle with five lines rising from it. Guy used his green ring to blast a small copy of the Green Lantern symbol into the center of the space inside the triangle. With that, the ground began to break apart, and the top of a large scythe with a black blade protruding from a Black Lantern battery atop the handle of the scythe broke the ground…

**-=WDYFM2=-**

**And there you go. Now, before you get riled up, the other Lanterns are not going to be major players in this. Since Terry is new as a Lantern, obviously, someone is going to have to teach him how to ring-sling. And Bruce really isn't up to that, so the other Lanterns are here for now to help Terry get started.**

**Something that may not be so obvious, is that at this point in time, all the Lantern Corps have united into one big Corps. More on that later.**

**Again, I am an attention whore, I love reviews!**


	3. Chapter 3

**What Do You Fear Most?**

**Chapter 2**

**-=WDYFM2=-**

As the ground broke apart, a large scythe breached the surface. The obsidian curved blade connected to a Black Lantern battery resting atop a large handle made of the bones and sinew of the deceased. Holding onto that scythe was a rotted, but still human hand. On that hand, a black power ring radiated a power that sent chills down Terry's spine, as if someone had walked over his grave.

The man carrying the scythe was dressed from head to toe in black. He wore a cape, wrapped around most of his body, concealing it from view. He was slightly hunched over, as he rose from the ground. On top of his dead, attached to the hood he wore, was a symbol, made of silver metal, and bolted onto his outfit. It was the shape of an upside down triangle with five bars shooting straight up from the inverted triangle. His ring bore the same symbol. As his body fully rose above ground, the undead man opened his eyes to survey those who had summoned him.

"**Gardner. Why have you summoned me? And where are the sacrifices? You know the deal, 3 pure souls for every resurrection,**" spoke the zombie.

"Yeah, yeah Billy, I remember. But I think this is one you would be interested in, so for now, we're going to waive your little fee," replied Guy, glaring daggers at the Black Lantern. "Oh, before I forget, Hand, this is the new Batman. Bats, this is Black Hand, the Grim Reaper himself."

At the introduction, Black Hands gaze moved to Terry. His undead eyes boring right into the young man's soul. After several tense seconds, Black Hand gave Terry a dark grin.

"**So… Terrance McGinnis of Earth. Taking the cape and cowl from old Bruce Wayne, eh? I bet that there is someone on the other side you would like to see again, isn't there? Like… your father?**"

Terry's eyes widened. Not only because this… man… knew exactly who he was, but was implying that he could bring his father back. As Terry was about to reply, Guy pulled him behind him and addressed Black Hand rather suddenly.

"No, we need something else. You remember the Joker, right? One of Bats' old enemies? He is somehow back, but all ring scans say that he is dead and his body is invalid," said Guy.

That got Black Hand's attention.

"**No! I shall not allow ANYONE to cheat death! **_**Especially**_** after that damn Hal Jordan! Too many have escaped death too many times!**" screamed Black Hand, almost frothing at the mouth from rage. Before Guy or Terry could say anything else, Black Hand closed his fist, a black light shining through his closed fingers. With his other hand, he swung his scythe, embedding the blade into the ground. Immediately, a deep fissure opened up, a black mist rising from it. Opening his hand, he revealed a black ring, bearing the same symbol that he had. It then lifted off from his hand, and shot into the open fissure.

"**Joseph Kerr of Earth! RISE!**"

A flash of black light came from within the fissure. Several tense seconds passed in which the only movement was from the black mist rising from the fissure. Then the silence was broken by a chilling laugh, identical to the laugh of the Joker who showed up at the Gotham Gala. Then a hand gripped the side of the fissure, its decaying skin and muscles tensing, pulling the owner up. A man of average height climbed up out of the hole in the ground.

He wore a black suit, with coat-tails and purple pinstripes. He had a chalk white face, green hair, a bright red smile shaped mark covering a good portion of his face, and yellow teeth. Empty eye sockets took in the scene before the undead man. Terry noticed a small flag with the word 'BANG!' on it embedded right the Jokers heart would have been.

"Ahaha! What a _pleasure_ it is to be back in my hometown! Why, there's little Guy Gardner! I must say, I like the new threads. Red is much more your color than that terrible green coat you wore," came the sadistically gleeful words of the newly resurrected Joker. Then he turned his black gaze onto Terry.

"Hmmm, my old playmate, but still, not. That's not ol' Bruce in the suit anymore, that's easy to see! And I don't even have eyes!" said the Joker as he began to laugh at his own joke. "Hoo-hoo-hoooooo. But still… the ears are too long, and I miss the cape. But overall, not bad. I like the Lantern makeover too, Bat-fake!"

The Joker abruptly stopped as the blade of the Grim Reapers scythe was placed less than an inch from his decaying neck. Tilting his head to look back at the Lord of the Dead, the Joker gave a broken grin.

"**No more, Joseph Kerr. Unlike mortal weapons, my scythe will send you back to the Land of the Dead with no issue,**" growled Black Hand.

"Willie, Willie, Willie. Why so serious? Ahahhahahahaha!" laughed the crazy Black Lantern.

Narrowing his eyes, Black Hand pressed the blade to the Jokers neck, drawing black blood.

"**Be silent Joseph Kerr. You will no longer speak unless spoken to, and only to answer the questions you are asked. You are merely a construct, and you **_**will**_** obey me,**" commanded Black Hand.

The Joker, unable to refuse, nodded, his frustrated frown in conflict with the painted on smile.

At that moment, a streak of green entered the skies of Wayne Manor. Setting down next to the other Lanterns, it was revealed to be a bald-headed human child. But despite being a child, he was a Green Lantern. Seeing the people he stood in the presence of, the child immediately fell to one knee, bowing his head.

"Forgive me for interrupting, My Lords Death and Butcher. Green Lantern Kai-Ro reporting. I came investigating a newly activated Yellow Lantern, but I could find no record of any Yellow Rings being sent to Earth," said Kai-Ro, getting everything out in a rush. He did his best to not look at the strange new Yellow Lantern.

"Aw, geddup," said Guy. "The other New Guardians and I keep telling you guys that we are all peers. No need to bow or nothin'."

As Kai-Ro stood, Guy gestured to Terry. "Lantern Kai-Ro, this is the goddamned Batman. Bats, this is Lantern Kai-Ro. The Green Lantern assigned to this sector. Bats, if after this escapade, you still accept the Yellow Ring, then Kai-Ro will be one of your sector partners. I'll introduce you to the rest later on. Kai-Ro, what are you doing here? You know Gotham is out of the Lantern Corps jurisdiction as well as the Justice Leagues. This is Bat territory."

Kai-Ro could only nod at the slight reprimand. "Butcher, my ring gave me a report that a new Yellow Lantern had been selected for the sector, coming from Earth. There hasn't been a Yellow Lantern assigned to this sector in 57 years. There was also no record of a Yellow Ring being sent to this sector. I was investigating to see if there was a rogue ring that found its way here."

Guy crossed his arms and nodded, accepting the answer. Kai-Ro was a bit boring, almost as emotionless as the little blue bastards that almost destroyed the Corps several times, but he did know right from wrong and did a good job. The Alpha Lanterns had reported that they wanted to keep an eye on him for when he got older, looking to possibly recruit him.

"Even so Kai-Ro, things in regards to the ring are under control. It was the ring that was assigned to this sector long ago, but the original owner had kept in just in case, but now his protégé has reactivated the ring. But right now, we're kind of busy with something. Tell ya what kid; here's ten bucks," said Guy as he pulled his wallet out of the same pocket dimension that the Red Lantern Power Batteries were kept. "Go grab some food before you head back out on sector patrol, or meet up with the League. This is Batman's hunting ground. Out of your jurisdiction."

Recognizing the dismissal for what it was, Kai-Ro nodded, and flew back into the sky in a streak of green.

"**If you're done socializing Gardner, we have some more important matters to attend to,**" said Black Hand. All three turned their attention back to the Black Lantern Joker.

"**How have you cheated me, Joseph Kerr? What keeps part of your soul attached to this world?**" asked Black Hand.

They could tell that the construct of the Joker was struggling against Black hands previous command to reveal what Black Hand wanted. He thought it was a magnificent prank, to be able to pull the wool over Deaths own eyes. Slowly, the words came.

"Advanced genetic engineering," said the Joker. "As it turns out, as crazy as I was in life, I was actually a genius. Decades ahead of my time. I had developed a special chip. It contained my DNA within it, and, to make a long story short, once connected to a host, it would slowly convert the host into a clone of myself, with the same physical fitness and condition that I had at the time of making the chip."

"**Who is the host?**" demanded Black Hand.

Reluctantly, the Joker answered. "Right before the event that led to my death, I had kidnapped a child who wore a colorful outfit, red and yellow and green mostly. Served as a distraction for the enemies of Gotham, so the Dark Knight could have a little extra prep time. That's how the Batman was so successful. He sent in his Robins to be diversions and distractions. At any rate, the third Robin, Tim Drake, was captured by my beautiful assistant and I. I tortured the info on Bruce out of him. I found out everything. Bruce, Barbra Gordon, Dick Grayson and even dear old Alfred. I broke his mind. Reconditioned him into the perfect little mini-me."

Horrified, Guy and Terry hung on to every word. Black Hand however, had less patience.

"**Get on with it!**"

"Tim Drake is the host. I attached the chip to the back of his neck. It is so small, and embeds itself right below the skin. It looks like a freckle. Made out of materials that won't show up on medical scans or set off any kind of tech detector," said the Joker.

"Awright William. I think we've got all we need. We'll go take care of the rest. Do what ya will with this freak," said Guy. The Joker stuck his rotting tongue out in response.

"**I agree. We're done with you Joseph Kerr. And I will have your complete soul. You are in for a rough eternity. But for now, begone.**"

The Joker corpse exploded with a scream as the Black Ring on its finger shattered. "_**Connection severed.**_"

Satisfied, Guy gestured to Terry with a jerk of his head, indicating that he should follow. "Come on Bat-boy. We have a clown to hunt."

As they turned to leave, Black Hand slowly began to sink back into the ground. As the ground slowly swallowed him, he called out to Guy.

"**I will waive the soul fee this time, Gardner. But never again. Next time you require information of the dead, you WILL have a proper sacrifice ready.**"

Guy stopped and tensed. He glared over his shoulder, his red eyes glowing brightly with unsuppressed rage and power. Black Hand met his glare, and did not waver. The two stared at each other until Guy nodded in understanding. Guy knew he was powerful, but there was no defeating Death.

**-=WDYFM3=-**

As Guy and Terry walked back into the Manor, they let their Lantern uniforms dissipate into wisps of red and yellow light. As they reached the living area, their rings gave a brief warning.

"_**Warning: Incoming spatial distortion. Incoming teleportation.**_"

In the middle of the massive living room, a bubble of indigo light expanded into existence. Once it reached a twelve foot diameter, the bubble shattered into shards before dissipating, leaving behind John Stewart, the cell of Jokerz that had all attacked Terry at the club, they were all unconscious. Also with them was a beautiful, young crimson skinned woman. She had short black hair, and two small inverted black triangles underneath her left eye. Terry did his best not to stare at the cleavage she had on display, considering her skin tight green, blue and black uniform with a v neck so deep, it almost reached her naval. On her right hand, she wore a Green Lantern ring, and her left hand bore a Blue Lantern ring.

Upon seeing Terry, and the yellow ring on his hand, the red skinned woman narrowed her blue and green eyes.

"Great… another one bearing my father's legacy. Just what the Corp needs…" she said.

"Relax Sora, this one doesn't have the psychotic tendencies that most other yellows have," said John. "If he did, Bruce would have made sure there was no way that he could ever get _that_ ring. Besides, we need to get to work on this serum in case we need to dose the entire city."

John then turned to Guy and Terry. "Did you guys find out any info on the Joker?"

Guy nodded grimly. He took a deep breath before he began to explain.

"Chuckles had found a way to cheat death. He died decades ago, but he created a chip that basically left a piece of his mind in a host he attached it to. Kinda like that old book series with the magic kid that had the thunderbolt shaped scar on his head."

"Well, that aint good. Any idea who the host is?" asked John.

"Yeah, we talked to Black Hand, and he brought Chuckles back as a Black Lantern, and forced it out of him. You remember when he kidnapped Bruce's third Robin, Tim Drake? Well, in addition to the torture, he apparently implanted this special chip. It's made to look like a mole, and is undetectable with any scanners on Earth."

"Damn. That's pretty heavy. Tim Drake, huh? He's had it pretty rough…"

There was silence for a few minutes as Guy and John were lost in thought, remembering the hardships of one of their younger acquaintances. Their morose thoughts were broken when the red-skinned woman cleared her throat impatiently.

Shaking his head, John addressed Terry. "Sorry, forgot to introduce you two. Terry, this is Soranik Natu-Rayner. She is the Corps lead surgeon and doctor, as well as combat medic. She is one of about twenty-seven Lanterns that can also use two different colors, excluding those of us who are bonded to the entities of each color, such as Guy and myself. She is married to one of the other New Guardians, a guy named Kyle Rayner. You can also call him Adara, which is the name of the blue entity of Hope. He leads the division of Blue Lanterns. Soranik, this is Terry McGinnis. He's the new Batman, taking over from Bruce. I guess he found Bruce's old ring and once it powered back up, it chose him to use it."

The two shook hands. Soranik still had an intense dislike of her father's legacy: the yellow rings of fear. If not for him and his old Corps, their home planet of Korugar would not have been destroyed by the First Lantern, Valthoom. But she did approve of the New Guardians decision to incorporate all the colors into one large Corps, where the Reds and the Yellows could be watched. She almost felt like dancing when the original Batman had become one of those New Guardians for a while, and had led the Yellow Lanterns, as well as tightening the recruitment programs of the rings. In addition, he had implemented new standards for the training of Yellow Lanterns. But even though they were no longer murdering psychopaths, or dangerously insane, most of the Yellow Lanterns tended to be incredibly aggressive, all part of their essential need to instill fear.

Breaking apart, the group conferred, and decided to split three ways: Soranik would stay at the Manor, using Bruce's cache of medical supplies and the Bat-Computers files on how to synthesize the Joker Anti-Venom. John would deliver the unconscious Jokerz to their homes. Meanwhile, Guy and Terry would track done and capture Tim Drake in order to purge him of the Joker's DNA.

**-=WDYFM3=-**

As Terry and Guy walked to the hanger where the Batmobile was being prepped for take-off by the automated computer systems, they discussed their plan.

"Awright Bat-boy, you're pretty new to ring-slinging, so I'll show you the ropes on how to locate certain targets, and how to create constructs that will carry out simple instructions," said Guy.

The two walked to the Bat-Computer, using one of the smaller screens to track Tim Drake. The computer indicated that he was at his research facility. Guy, knowing how good the Bat-Computer was, still wanted to take a moment to show Terry how to track an individual. Asking his green ring for the location of Tim Drake, Guy and Terry were startled to find that the ring gave a completely different location for him, at an old toy factory of all things.

"Well… That definitely fits the Joker's M.O… but I'm a little thrown off here. Check your ring too Bat-boy, this needs a triple-check apparently."

Terry did as he was shown, and his yellow ring confirmed that Guys green ring was spot-on. As Terry went to turn back to Guy, Guy's green ring started chiming.

"_**Incoming transmission.**_"

Guy looked at Terry and rolled his eyes. "That's one thing that could stand to be improved about the rings. No caller ID, without specifically asking for it. Ring, who's calling?"

"_**Your wife, chucklehead.**_" replied the ring.

Instantly, Guy paled. Terry almost laughed at the idea that the Big Bad Butcher, the New Guardian Guy Gardner would be so terrified of his wife calling. The only thing that stopped him from laughing was Guys death glare… and the sword made of red light directly at Terry's throat.

"Put her on," said Guy to the ring.

The ring formed a construct, a visage of the most gorgeous woman that Terry had ever seen. She had long hair, pointy ears, and of all things, wings on her back. She almost looked like an angel. He would have thought she was one if not for the look of absolute anger on her face.

"_Guy! Where the hell are you?! John came back hours ago, but you didn't! I know you were going to go investigate the reactivation of the lead yellow ring, but it shouldn't be taking this damn long! You promised you would come home and help take care of the kids, you asshole!_"

"Now, Bleez, sweetie, calm down-" started Guy.

"_Don't you tell me to calm down! What is taking you so long?! And if you don't give me a satisfactory answer, I will come after you and cut your balls off!_"

Guy began to sweat. This was serious business now. Normally, in past relationships, such as with Tora, or better known to the public of Earth as Ice, she would just make him sleep on the couch and give him the silent treatment for a few days. At least until Fire got involved. But with Bleez, Guy knew that she would make good on her threat. But luckily, for this particular situation, he knew how to get her to calm down.

"Bleez, babe, you're pregnant. You _need_ to calm down. You know Sora says that any stress in a pregnant Red Lantern could possibly have disastrous consequences for the baby."

The construct image of Bleez gave an irritated huff. She knew that he was right. She closed her eyes, and gave five slow, very deep breaths. Opening her eyes again, she looked at her husband with worried and loving eyes, all the fire having gone completely from them.

"_Guy, what's going on?_" she asked, her voice much softer and sweeter now. "_I expected you back with John, but he just brought in some more humans, and took them straight to the psychics. Right after that, he grabbed Sora and left again without telling me anything. Are you alright?_"

"I'm fine, sweetheart. We're having an issue with someone who is not quite staying as dead as he should be. We're about to go hunt him down and make sure that he stays in William's black hand."

At this point, Guy began to walk away from Terry, letting the red sword dissipate. As the conversation grew softer to Terry's ears, Terry couldn't help but smile. It seemed that all Lanterns had more than just one side to them. His thoughts turned towards Dana as he observed Guy talking to his wife. After a few minutes, Guy and Bleez said their goodbyes, and Guy walked over to Terry.

"Let's get to it Bat-boy. I've been given a curfew, so let's do this quickly."

**-=WDYFM3=-**

Soon enough, Guy had shown Terry how to use his ring to form a construct that would pilot the Batmobile to the print off the Batcomputer had given them, while the two of them would go to where their rings indicated that Tim Drake was.

They had come to conclusion that the Joker part of Tim's personality had installed a program on the Batcomputer that would allow him to access it remotely, feeding them false information. This was certainly probable, given Tim's occupation as a communications expert.

Within minutes, the two Lanterns had come across the toy factory. Hovering above it, about two hundred feet above the building.

"Awright Terr. I'll let you handle this, and I'll play back-up on this one. How do you want to handle this?"

Terry took a moment to consider before addressing his ring.

"Ring, disable all alarms, without triggering the 'alarm-down' sensors. In addition, set all surveillance equipment to loop the last half-hour."

Guy nodded. He wasn't fond of the subtle approach, but given the enemy they were facing, it was probably the best course of action. They both descended to the roof, and Terry told the ring to shut off the protective aura. Once that was done, he turned the dial on the front of his utility belt, activating the active camouflage.

Now invisible, Terry silently infiltrated the building through one of the broken out windows. Guy stayed behind, waiting and listening for anything that would indicate that his intervention would be needed.

Terry crept silently down to the service floor, where he saw the Joker in a large, over-stuffed office chair, looking up at several monitors, all of which seemed to have streaming feed from the security cameras at Tim Drake's office.

"Ugh… where is he? Where is he? Where is he?! Brucie boy never kept me waiting this long!" growled the Joker, impatiently. All of a sudden, the feed picked up the Batmobile, coming in for a landing. Laughing gleefully, the Joker stood to get closer up to the monitor. He couldn't wait to pull another joke on the Bat-fake!

However, when the Batmobile opened, there was no Batman inside.

"Whaaat?! Where is HE?!" screamed the Joker in outrage.

"Here," replied Terry from directly behind him. Before the Joker could even process what was happening, Terry squeezed a capsule right under his nose, the gas from the capsule being inhaled from the Jokers surprised gasp. Almost immediately, the Joker slumped over, unconscious.

"Nice job, Bat-boy. You got him good. He'll be pretty pissed once he figures out that you turned the tables on his little prank," said Guy, coming up behind him.

"Man, after all this, I thought he would have been a little better prepared. This was pretty anti-climactic," huffed Terry in annoyance.

Guy just chuckled. "Kid, once you are a Lantern, you'll find that all sorts of things become almost ridiculously easy. But what do you think? You want to join up with the Corps?"

Terry thought about it for a moment. "Yeah, sure. Why not? Could be a laugh."

"Then Terry McGinnis of Sector 2814, welcome to the Lantern Corps."

**-=WDYFM3=-**

_**Well, this wraps up the "Return of the Joker" arc. Terry will be formally inducted into the Corps. We will find out more about the New Guardians and the circumstances that put them where they are, and their choice of spouses. Until next time! Don't forget to leave reviews!**_


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